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Wonders of Life Pavilion/Technologies
As with every pavilion featured in Future World, it is not uncommon for the Wonders of Life pavilion to exclusively feature technologies that can immerse guests into the experience. Some may have been only introduced to EPCOT Center during the pavilion's construction and planning, while some have been used by the other Disney theme parks for decades before. Simulators One of the technologies featured in the pavilion is the motion simulator, or specifically, the Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator (this also formed an acronym under ATLAS), and it was a large-scale hydraulic motion simulator designed for theme parks during the late 1980s. This form of technology was considered during the development of Body Wars in response to the issue pertaining to maintenance of its Omnimover counterpart, The Incredible Journey Within. During development, the ATLAS was derived from various simulation technology used to train military pilots on flight missions), and during its development, it was a product of Rediffusion Simulation (located in Sussex, England; nowadays, it is now owned by Thomson-CSF/Thales Group). Each simulator uses six hydraulic actuators as its source of fixed locomotion to give it a broad range of movement - from climbs and dips through to swaying sideways. It is because of this 'freedom of movement' that the ATLAS was used in two separate attractions featured in the Disney Parks - Star Tours (recently refurbished and currently running in Disneyland, Hollywood Studios, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris), and the headline attraction of the Wonders of Life pavilion, Body Wars. In this case, the ATLAS cabins (often hidden from outside view, and often arranged lengthwise) are often large (approximate dimensions pending) with room for 40 passengers per 5 minute ride session. While the four simulators used in Body Wars have sadly been decomissioned and dismantled, the simulators are still in use in all Star Toursattractions. Assuming the average attendance of visitors to EPCOT Center, being 10,241,000 per year, were to line up for an ATLAS simulator ride, it would take up to 256,025 5 minute rides to go through the crowd. From a period of opening day in 1989, through to the incident in May 1995, Disney spokesperson Bill Warren cites that at least 25 millionriders have boarded the ride without problems. Reference Given that the bulk of the information is supplemented by a Wikipedia article being the only source of information on the topic, if you have any information on finding proper sources, please contact. * N/A, 2012. 'The Attendance Problem at Epcot', Orlando United. ONLINE Available at http://www.orlandounited.com/forums/showthread.php?6733-The-Attendance-Problem-at-Epcot. 12 April 13 * Fox, RJ et al, 1992. Amusement ride having pivotable ingress-egress bridges, US Patent 5161104, Available at Google Patents Database. * Quinn, C. 1995. Orlando Sentinel, "Grieving Mom Heads Home After Girl's Death On Ride" ONLINE Available at http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-05-18/news/9505170840_1_body-wars-walt-disney-baker May 15th 2013 Audio Animatronics A staple in the world of attractions used in the Disney theme parks, both in history and in present, audio animatronics are considered very notable forms of technology. Audio animatronics are a form of robotic puppetry technology, in which the automated figures move and speak in synchronisation with recorded audio, and are often used to simulate numerous effects not possible with live animals or people. Legend accepts that audio animatronics stemmed from a mechanical bird purchased by Walt Disney as a souvenir from Europe, and hence is a three-dimensional extension from the animated films from earlier. Early forms of audio animatronics were simply just animatronic figures using cams, cables and tubes to fascilitate movement, as constructed by Roger Broggie and Wathel Rogers. Although the movement was primitive by today's standards (the original models tended to have herky-jerky and not very smooth movements compared to those today), the combination of cam-and-lever principles with an electronic hydraulic-pneumatic system (either running on pumping air or hydraulic fluid) acheived greater movement in animatronic figures, and famous ones of this kind can be found in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise and Nature's Wonderland. The first fully operational ones were in the Enchanted Tiki Room, in which Imagineers have devised a show control system consisting of magnetic tape reels and solenoid coils. As each of the animatronic birds were relatively simple figures, the ability to turn their heads and open and shut their beaks along to speech were coded as directions on magnetic tape, and were coded by solenoid coils inside the figures to produce the action. As animatronics were developed later, 1964 saw the rise of the first fully animated human animatronic figure, in the form of President Abraham Lincolin featured at the New York's World Fair. 'He' incorporated 57 movements, including 22 head movements - as listed by newscaster David Brinkley, "Lincoln sits, stands, moves his tongue, moves his lips, clears his throat, frowns, smiles, looks skeptical," attributing his lifelike stance. To get to this level, it took a lot of work by animator Wathel Rogers with the aid of a harness-like device to capture and record movements for the figure, a far cry from today's use of motion-capture cameras and computer software to help capture, measure and program the animatronic figures according to speech and direction. In fact, for its time, the President Lincolin animatronic was so lifelike, even Daniel Cohen of Science Digest explained his experience of shaking his hand - how it felt like "...real flesh to make you cringe. It's moist, for the vinyl plastic skin exudes a fine oil over a period of time. The plastic even bruises", highlighting the animatronics' tendency to border on the uncanny valley. Thanks to the development of the computer, 1969 saw the development of the Digital Animation Control System, involving the movements being stored on a computer disk, and later manipulated by the animator via the console, with the ability to add or delete actions at the touch of a button. As computing processing power and innovations have progressed, DACS technology has even reached its prime, being featured in the majority of many Disney theme park attractions worldwide, including the scholarly-then EPCOT Center. Managing and controlling such rides in the four parks are all done on a centralised DACS unit in a remote location, somewhere deep in the Magic Kingdom. In fact, as a sign of progress, both in show and in technology, EPCOT Centerhad once an expansive population of audio animatronics, from the historical dioramas in Spaceship Earth and World of Motion, through to the menacing dinosaurs of the Universe of Energy, and even the playful and iconic Kitchen Kabaret band, the duo Dreamfinder and Figment, and the site focus, Buzzy and the Hypothalamusthat once resided in the Wonders of Life pavilion. References * N/A, 2013. Magical Kingdoms, 'The History of Disney's Audio Animatronics' ONLINE Available at http://www.magicalkingdoms.com/blog/2008/07/08/the-history-of-disneys-audio-animatronics/[Accessed 8th June 2013] * Baker, C., 2011. 'Herky-Jerky 'Humans': Legacy of Disney's Audio-Animatronics', Wired ONLINE Available at http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/pl_prototype_disney_machines/ 9th June 2013 Show Control Units Often overlooked in this aspect of technologies used in this pavilion is the use of show control units in some of the attractions during its time. A particular notable person in this topic is Steve Alcorn (1956 and onwards), who once was at Walt Disney Imagineering as a consultant for EPCOT Center in 1982, and his notable work was on the electronic show control systems used in EPCOT Center. From such expertise did he found his company, Alcorn McBride, in 1986, which specialised in show control systems from all walks of life, from lighting control systems, through to sound and video file playback channels, and even a show control system that allowed for serial and network devices. The company did not just cater to theme parks, but also to museums, casinos and retail venues, through to cruise ships and tour vehicles. Notably, in 1988, the company's first show controller was the V16, which was first used in Wonders of Life's attractions.This later became the parkwide standard throughout many theme parks around the world. References * Blooloop Directories. n.d.. Alcorn-McBride Inc - Lighting Control Equipment. ONLINE Available at: http://www.blooloop.com/CompanyDetails/Alcorn-McBride-Inc-/211[Accessed: 25 Jul 2013].